Carol Anne Poltergeist 2 Bust Restoration

She’s back….Restoration of a Poltergeist 2 Bust

This Poltergeist 2 bust came with it’s own set of unique challenges, because it was a fragile,thin layer of foam latex over a very heavy plaster bust. Since the skin was already fragile and damaged, we were worried that even with very careful packing, shipping the bust before restoration could be very damaging to the prop. Luckily this is actually something we have dealt with before!

Most of the time we need to restore these pieces in our NY studio, however we can restore in other locations as well. We have sent our artists to our clients homes to restore these piece or as in the case of the Carol Anne bust we were able to work on her repairs at Propstore’s Los Angeles location. Prop Store was originally the auction house which sold the bust and so before it was shipped out to our client, we sent one of our West Coast artists, Casey Wong, over to Prop Store’s location for repair work.

There were not too many reference photos to work with, as this prop was used in a brief shot in the film as well as being part of a special effect. So Casey definitely had his work cut out for him, but using the reference photos from the film as well as photos of actress, Heather O’Rourke, he was able to sculpt in the features that were missing. Once those areas were patched he went in and painted only those patches so that they matched the surrounding material.

Once the restoration was finished, the awesome folks in Propstore’s shipping department, carefully packed her up and shipped her off to her new home, where our client added the brilliant faux TV set display case for her, complete with lights and reproduction nightgown!